Semper Vigilans
by sev7n
Summary: Zuko and Katara are having some serious problems...fortunately, the ever vigilant Toph is there to help them work through them. My first attempt at romance. Zutara.


And here's random oneshot number 2. Done during my intro to physical science class, because there's no reason to do anything else in there anyway.

I don't own it.

* * *

He was doing it again. He had done it before, of course. She had seen him deliberately take her technique in Ba Sing Se, but there had been the slightly more pressing concern of attempting to save the entire Earth Kingdom at the time. But now it was getting ridiculous. And, as if to add insult to injury, he was actually demonstrating it for Aang and attempting to justify it by saying that all elements were connected. Ridiculous. As if fire had any relation to any other element. All fire did was destroy, after all.

"Hey, Sugar Queen, are you going to stare at my ostrich horse and fume all day or heal my feet?" Toph's voice broke her from her musings. Cursing Zuko at once again escaping her wrath due to a more pressing mater, Katara turned back to continue healing the blind girl's feet.

"You know Toph, I really don't get it. Zuko burned your feet, and yet here you are as his biggest supporter. I know that you weren't around when he was chasing us all over the world, but you've seen just how uncontrollable he is first hand now. How can you trust him so much? Sokka told me about how Azula could trick you. Couldn't Zuko just be doing the same thing?" And in truth, she didn't get it. Not at all. Sokka had called it "jerkbending" and while his intent had simply been humor, she found it a particularly accurate description. How could someone who had directly suffered from it be so willing to forgive?

"Geez, I'm going to have to think up a new name for you if you keep acting like this. I guess you're right in that Zuko could be doing the same thing Azula did. I guess I just have faith in him. Which is more than I can say for you. Honestly Sweetness, if you think I'm the last person that will support him, then I'd say that you'd normally be the first to give a second chance and all that. I guess I'm just not going to hold a grudge as long as you. Did he hurt your feelings personally?" To Toph, this was pure gold. She knew how Katara wanted everyone to think she felt about the twice banished prince, but unlike them, she knew how she _really_ felt about him. And she was going to torture them both until she found out everything. And then she'd probably continue messing with them, just for fun. They needed help, after all, and it was only fair that she used her gifts to the advantage of her friends. Still, someone was going to have to be hurt here. Unfortunately, in this case, it was going to be Aang. She was quite aware of the Avatar's crush on the girl (who wasn't?), but she also suspected that there was something already in his way. When she had caught his obvious lie about mastering the avatar state (she hadn't called him on it, of course, since he seemed upset about it enough on his own…and Sokka was surprisingly cozy at that particular time…) But now, especially after hearing about exactly how Azula shot him down in Ba Sing Se from Katara, she was fairly certain of what was actually "locking" his last chakra.

"Alright Toph, that's about as good as I can do. Unfortunately," here her voice rose considerably, making sure to reach the prince and avatar nearby, "there's some scarring that had already started in before I could heal it. It's a shame about that, really." Sending a scathing look at Zuko to make sure her meaning was clear, she walked off.

Aang, who had heard as well, yet steadfastly refused to even entertain the notion that Katara had stated that with the intent to get under Zuko's skin, took the prince's reaction in as innocent as a manner as possible.

"Cheer up, Sifu Hotman!" The young avatar put on his biggest smile. "We all know you didn't mean to, and it takes more than that to put Toph out of commission! She'll be walking on her own in no time!"

"Oh no Twinkletoes! My feet have been alright for a couple days now. But Sparky's my ostrich horse, and that's not changing." Toph, completely unhindered by the prince's withering glare but knowing her comment had irritated him, did nothing but grin in his general direction.

"Its alright," the prince replied, getting up at the blind earthbender's 'come-hither' gesture. "We've gone through enough training for today. Rest up though. Tomorrow, you're going to learn about lightning, and you'll need your strength for it. I'll be teaching you how to create and redirect it." And with that, Prince Zuko, son of Fire Lord Ozai, former heir to the throne of the most powerful nation in the world, walked over to a twelve year old girl and proceeded to carry her back to her room.

On his way to his own room (the avatar wasn't the only person who needed to get some rest: the amount of lightning he was going to have to create tomorrow was going to be quite draining), however, he met resistance.

"Is there a reason you feel it necessary to steal the techniques of everyone you meet?" The Southern Water Tribe master asked, her tone carrying just as much ice as her bending.

Completely surprised by the question, not to mention the confrontation, Zuko could only stand there and stare. Finally finding his voice, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"What are you talking about, peasant?"

Okay, good start, but could've done some work on the ending. Judging by the fact that the waterbender was suddenly pulling out a pair of water skins, he guessed that she had a similar critique.

"I'm talking about you stealing this, you arrogant jerkbender!" She furiously brought the water out of the pouches, forming each into its own whip, and flinging them at the firebender.

Though able to duck under the first in time, the prince left himself exposed to the second, which solidly collided with his torso and sent him sprawling. Getting up shakily, Zuko slowly exhaled smoke, the look in his eyes saying that he dearly wished to retaliate in kind. However, after a brief stare down, he relaxed and started walking away, only to find himself frozen up to his neck.

"I'm not finished with you yet, _your highness_." The acidic voice of the (in his opionion crazy) waterbender carried easily over the quiet of the hallway.

"What do you want me to say?" He inquired as calmly as he could. In all due fairness, he thought to himself, he was being extremely mature about all this; his uncle had taught him to incorporate other techniques into his own repertoire, and she should be honored that he had used hers. Imitation was the most sincere form of flattery, after all. Why in the world did she think it was necessary to attack him for it? Ok, so perhaps the peasant comment had been an untimely thing to say, but really, even those two reasons combined weren't enough to justify an attack.

It was with this logic that he decided she had no reason to attack or detain him, and therefore began to melt the ice that froze his body.

Which, he realized, was probably also an unwise move, when she decided that such a gesture was apparently hostile, and proceeded to react with yet another powerful whip (where was she getting all this water from) and knocked him into a wall.

"I know that you're planning something. You've already had the perfect option to join us, back when your uncle was right there. You honestly expect us to believe that now, when he's in prison, you make the decision on your own!? After you betrayed us in Ba Sing Se, I knew there was no way you'd ever become good. It's like I said before: you may have the others fooled, but don't think for a second that I believe it. I know you're planning something, and when you do, I'm going to be ready." Her tone had risen to almost a shriek, and the firebender winced, both at the words themselves and her tone.

Bowing his head in shame, he finally spoke in a quiet, subdued voice. "I know that I've made a lot of bad decisions, but trust me, I didn't make this choice on my own. You're right in that I'm not smart enough to figure that out. My uncle explained something to me when I went to visit him in prison, and ultimately that's what led to this. I'm sorry that I've hurt you, and believe me I'm going to do everything I can to make up for it. And first on the list of things to do is teach the avatar firebending. And to do that, I feel it appropriate to incorporate the concepts of other bending elements into my own, to help him understand the similarity between them, and-"

"Liar! As if firebending is like the other elements. Its very nature is to spread and destroy; even Jeong Jeong, a firebending_ master_, realized that. As far as I'm concerned, Aang can do without firebending, or _you_. But he's too nice for his own good, and so he's willing to give you yet _another_ chance. And you're willing to take advantage of it, and just wait until you have him in your greedy little clutches, but I'm not going to let-"

_Smack!_

And her tirade was promptly silenced by Zuko's lips crashing into hers. In utter shock, the two stood there for what seemed like eternity, until finally regaining their senses and backing off.

"Hey!" Her expression as innocent as it was irritated, Toph stood in the doorway of her own room, her knees still bent in an earthbending stance. "Will you two lovebirds take your little quarrel somewhere else? Some of us are trying to sleep!" And with that, the greatest earthbender in the world returned to her room and slammed the door.

Finally regaining her voice (it was just shock, of course, that had kept her speechless up until now, just as it was humiliation that made her cheeks heat up so much; after all, she hadn't _enjoyed_ kissing the stupid, evil, gentle, dumb, jerkbending, tasty firebender), Katara managed a strangled shriek, "Toph!!"

* * *

The next day, things went fairly well for Zuko. Katara was, for once, quite silent in her dealings with him, Aang was handling the first lesson, generating lightning, very well (in that he successfully created a monumental explosion directly in his own face each time), Toph was so unwilling to drop her smug grin that she didn't need a "ride" anywhere, and the rest of the people at the western air temple left him and the young avatar alone to train. All in all, it was ideal.

_BAM!_

And Aang flew back, once again.

"Hey, Twinkletoes, I think that's a new record!" Toph added her two cents in.

At the avatar's glum look, Zuko decided he needed support…thinking about it, probably exactly the kind he himself had needed when he had failed to learn this trick the first time.

"Alright, it seems you've got something blocking you from attaining a clear state of mind," The prince commented, never noticing the sudden interest Toph started to pay to his lecture. "It's alright though; I had the same problem when I first trying to create lighting, and trust me, it took me a long time to get over it. You're already making a lot more progress than I did." The prince said, hoping that the blind earthbender wouldn't call him on his lie. Of course the avatar wasn't making any better progress than he had; if its blowing up in your face, you're doing it wrong. Still, it seemed to do the trick, as the young airbender quickly picked himself up.

"Alright! Ready to try again!" And with that, Aang got into the stance, yet again. Before he could begin, however, he was stopped by the prince's hand on his shoulder.

"Its good to not give up, but sometimes you might want to take a break from learning one thing in order to learn another." The prince commented cryptically.

"What are you talking about?" Now Aang was curious: what else could he learn? The obvious choice was what Zuko had insinuated last night, which meant…

"You're going to teach me to redirect lightning! This is so awesome! How do I do it!? Is it like this!?" The young airbender quickly began going through several different, exaggerated motions.

Smiling to himself at the young monk's antics, the prince decided to save the boy some embarrassment. "Yes, I'm going to teach you to redirect lightning, but its nothing like that." And with that, he began to demonstrate the movement: in one arm, through the stomach, out the other.

"And always remember: never let it anywhere near your heart. It could stop it instantly. You have to bring it through your own sea of chi, your stomach, so as to be able to guide and direct it. Otherwise, it'll run amok." The prince made sure to drill that fact into the boy hard. The avatar needed to know that above all else. If you failed to avoid the heart, you might as well just let the lightning strike you.

They spent the better part of the day going through the motion for that. Eventually, the avatar finally caught on to what the prince had been waiting for.

"Hey! This is like waterbending!" The airbender exclaimed in realization.

"Good. Yes, you're correct, my uncle developed this technique by watching how waterbenders redirect the flow of energy through the body. He said that it was a perfect example of how closely related all the four elements are: even direct opposites, like fire and water, can greatly complement one another when used correctly." Zuko allowed himself a smile at that, remembering his uncle's "avatar stuff" advice.

However, the avatar himself frowned at that. "Just before Ba Sing Se fell, I went to see a guru. He said that he could show me how to gain control of the avatar state, and he said something like that too. He even said that the four nations are really just one people, only divided by distance and the nature of their elements."

"He was wise then. But there's danger in that thought as well: the concept of every nation being only one real culture has been perverted by the Fire Nation. Its part of their justification to this war." The prince commented, remembering the education he had had in the Fire Nation Royal Academy for Boys. "In any event, I'm glad you noticed that. It means that you've really got a feel for the technique. You can practice as long as you want, but once you feel comfortable, we can try it, if you want to."

At first, the look on the avatar's face was terror. No doubt the boy was remembering his previous experience with lightning. But then, it showed his realization of the necessity of this action, and then finally he shifted to resignation.

"Alright," Aang finally said, "But I want to practice it, just a little more."

"Okay. Lets keep going through the motion.." The prince knew that the young airbender was stalling, but that was alright. The boy needed time to get used to the idea that he was about to have lightning shot at him. He didn't need to freeze up. Still, his hesitation and fear only proved the need for this: he couldn't just sit there like a lump when Ozai launched lightning at him.

* * *

Unlike Zuko's, Katara's day was anything but ideal. She, for reasons unknown to even herself, couldn't even face him without instantly thinking back to what had happened the previous night, and for some reason her throat chose to completely constrict and the temperature around her face rose by an additional fifty degrees whenever she got near him. Must be some evil firebending trick. And as much as she wanted to chew Toph out for what she had caused, the blind earthbender was hiding in Zuko's presence, somehow aware that Katara wouldn't confront her with _him_ around.

So, unable to watch the firebender, and unable to do anything to get back at the culprit of the event, Katara had spent the day trying to waterbend her frustrations out. It hadn't worked. And while she was unaware of it, her irritation had only served to further amuse Toph, who, from her position on the opposite side of the stalactite-like structure they were on, felt everything.

Finally giving up, she decided to try going to where Toph (and Zuko) were at once more. Maybe now she'd be able to find her voice. Not that there was any reason not to. Okay, so maybe she had enjoyed the kiss. All that meant was that Zuko had used another sinister firebending trick (if so, it's a pretty useful one, a part of her mind commented). In any case, she was going to give the blind bandit a piece of her mind.

* * *

"Okay, I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Aang's voice wasn't particularly confident, but was still laced with the determination Zuko had come to recognize in the young monk. Though peaceful by nature, it was apparent that the boy had all the drive of a firebender mixed with the steadfast nature of an earthbender.

"Get ready then," Zuko commented, "I'm going to go through a fairly slow kata so that you can see when I'm going to attack." And with that, the prince began the very same motions his uncle had performed. The very same motions that had been resulting in an explosion to the face every time the avatar did it. He himself had only managed to perform the feat after coming to peace within himself, and acknowledging his conscience. Unlike most of the previous attempts Zuko and Aang had made with this form, there was a visible sign of success now: deadly arcs of electricity followed the motions of his fingers, circling around him in a deceptively slow dance. Finally, the prince brought he fingers together, and looked pointedly at the young avatar, who assumed a ready stance to redirect the attack.

* * *

Wondering what the strangely bright glow emanating throughout the temple was, Katara hurried her pace. Unsure of what could cause such a phenomenon, she instantly came to what was clearly the most logical conclusion: Zuko was doing something to attack Aang. Apparently he didn't take her threat seriously. She'd show him just how serious he needed to be taking her. Not that he'd have a chance to make up for this mistake. Sure he was a good kisser, but he was evil, and dark, and a firebender, and handsome, and deceptive and conniving and a lot of other things that felt like she was betraying what she stood for by admitting.

It didn't matter: he was trying to hurt Aang, so she was going to hurt him.

* * *

Aang stood there, waiting to die. He understood that he needed to know this technique, and he needed to be ready to use it, but he was certain he was going to die. It wasn't anything to do with Zuko. He was really a great sifu. Its just that Aang was going to die. He was sure of it. Just like he loved Katara, and he'd never grow up. There were just some obvious constants.

* * *

He was ready. The avatar was ready. Everything was set. Taking one last look, to insure that Toph was nowhere near the path of the lightning, he released it directly at the avatar.

* * *

She got there just in time. Barely even thinking about it, she quickly pulled moisture from the air towards her, pulling Aang with it: it may not have been a full moon, but the speed at which she was pulling the water from the air towards her had enough momentum to push the avatar in that direction as well. Barely enough time too. Lightning past where the avatar had just been, flying off to the other side of the canyon and creating an explosion large enough to be felt by everyone at the temple.

Satisfied she had saved the last airbender, Katara quickly turned on the evil firebender, and, before he could react, turned the water she had just summoned into small, dagger-like icicles, which she launched at him.

* * *

Zuko didn't have time to react. He had only just realized that the avatar had escaped the attack, and was about to berate the boy for his fear, when he saw her. And when he saw her, he was further delayed by his embarrassment of the night before and his realization that she didn't understand what they were doing. By the time his mind had fully processed everything that had already transpired, and realized what was about to transpire as a result, the blades were already flying towards him.

* * *

Toph, too, realized it too late. The pressure of the vibrations Zuko was giving off when he held lightning in his hands had been really different, and she had wanted to memorize them for future reference. By the time she felt Katara's presence, the blades were already flying.

* * *

He had just enough time to raise his arms to shield his face from the blades. Then, a thousand points on his body exploded into pain. And then, he faded into blackness.

* * *

"Katara! No! Zuko was just teaching me to redirect lightning! You have to heal him!" Quickly regaining his senses, Aang was the first to react verbally to what the waterbender had just done.

Looking at the airbending monk in shock, Katara's mind quickly processed what had just happened, and what she had done. Rushing over to bloody firebender (how much of him is blood and how much is just the color of his clothes?) the young waterbending master quickly pulled the very blades imbedded in him out to use for healing (there are so many how many times did I hit him please spirits let him live I don't want him to die).

* * *

All in all, it took several hours to deal with the wounds. Augmented by her emotions, her bending had been strengthened, and thus the ice blades had imbedded themselves deeply into his body. Even with her healing, she had only dealt with the most problematic wounds before fainting herself. The rest the others had bandaged up.

* * *

She awoke a day later to find him sitting beside her bed. Upon noticing that she was awake, the firebender shifted uncomfortably.

"How're you feeling?" The banished prince asked timidly.

Giving him a neutral and curious look, the waterbender finally replied "Better" quietly.

Finally getting more nerve, she wheeled on him suddenly. "Do you have any idea what you were doing? I know Aang needs to know that technique, but making him experience real lightning on his first day? And not even telling me about it? You could've killed him! I could've killed you!"

The impact of her words was lessened slightly, as he noticed she was crying. He wondered why. Sure, it was possible that the avatar could have died, but that would be possible no matter when he tried: it was better to do it quickly, while the technique was still fresh in the boys mind, and the anticipation wasn't eating him up on the inside. So why was she crying? For some reason, he didn't want to see her cry. And so, leaning down tentatively, he wiped her tears away, only for her to latch on to him, continuing to sob into his chest.

Surprised by her action, but not daring to pull away, Zuko only began rubbing her back comfortingly and gently telling her it was alright. Every now and then, he could catch a coherent word or two, such as "not a monster," "almost," "could've killed…"

Pushing her back a bit, gently, and cupping her chin to face him, Zuko stared the girl in the eye. "Katara, I know that a lot of things could've happened, but they didn't. Look around. Aang's fine, I'm fine, and you're fine. Everything's alright. I'll wait to perform the redirection of lightning with him until later, and I'll be sure and tell you. For now, just get some rest. I'll be right here." He didn't know what made him say that last part. Why should he remain right there? Still, he had said it, so he would. And, strangely enough, he really did want to stay. Odd.

Calming down somewhat, the girl looked up at him, then his bandaged arms and torso. "But you're not fine! I didn't even get to heal you completely. Here, just give me some water, I'll get rid of these and-"

"Katara," Zuko began sternly, "you need to rest. You healed everything important, and it took a lot out of you. None of my wounds are even bleeding anymore, and you're going to knock yourself out again if you try to do anything strenuous. Just rest. Remember, if you're not able to keep a close eye on me, I might escape with the avatar." He gave a weak grin to show that he was joking.

In spite of herself, Katara actually laughed at that. "Okay, okay. But Zuko?" He nodded for her to go on. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did before, and, if it means anything, I do trust you."

At that, the look on the prince's face lit up drastically. His entire posture seemed to go straighter. Smiling at her, he finally replied.

"Thank you! You really don't know how much that means to me. I know that I made some mistakes, but I promise you that I understand things better now. I won't hurt you like that again. Trust me, I'll-"

Whatever it was that prince Zuko actually meant to say he would do would have to wait. Because at that moment, the two found themselves once again lip locked, as the firebender had been mysteriously bumped out of his seat and right into her face. This time, though, neither seemed to mind the suddenness or surprise of the action, based on the fact that both pairs of eyes closed as the kiss deepened.

* * *

From her position in the room beside, Toph blew some of her bangs out of her eyes, only for them to fall right back into place.

"Honestly, what would those two do without me?"

* * *

Later that evening, the greatest earthbender in the world quickly and quietly rose on an earthen elevator up to the top of the cliff.

"Ah, there you are! I've been keeping the Ginseng warm for you." A raspy voice called from the location of Zuko's former camp. Smiling to herself, Toph quickly walked over to where the Dragon of the West was sitting by a fire.

"You, sir, owe me big." She proclaimed as she sat down on her own stone chair.

"You are correct, my lady, so allow me to begin repaying you with some of this wonderful tea! I had truly missed the high quality collections available at the Fire Nation capitol, so I made certain to liberate some in my own escape." Iroh said with a chuckle, as he poured a cup of steaming tea for the young girl. "From the way you are talking, I assume that things are progressing nicely between my nephew and Ms. Katara?" He queried after handing the girl her cup.

"Ya ya, they're smooching away down there. I still don't see what the big deal is. I mean, why her specifically?" The girl asked, directing a curious gaze in the retired general's direction.

"My nephew showed several signs of a small infatuation with her during the winter months. What I observed happening in the crystal catacombs of Ba Sing Se seemed to reinforce my belief in his affection for her, and to lead me to suspect that his feelings were reciprocated. Surely such an attraction did not escape your notice?" The general queried kindly.

"Of course not, but she was pretty upset with him about Ba Sing Se. I still think it would've been easier to get him some other girl." Toph replied.

"Perhaps you are correct. However, I have long been a firm believer in the concept of balance. My nephew needed someone with a calm, soothing touch, just as much as I believe Ms. Katara could do with an individual as passionate as my nephew. You might be surprised at just how much truth there is in the saying 'opposites attract.'" The firebending master commented.

"Ya, whatever. I still say you should come say hi to him at least. He's pretty upset about what happened with you. I think he needs to know that you forgive him." Toph's tone showed her disapproval of Iroh's choice to remain in anonymity.

"You do have a good point, Ms. Bei Fong, but I'm afraid I cannot do that. I must be leaving quickly, and I fear that Zuko may desire to come with me if I were to reveal myself and announce that I had to leave. Do not worry though: I will reunite with him long before the next invasion. And I will be introducing him to someone I'm sure he will be thrilled to meet. Until then, Ms. Bei Fong, I leave these affairs in your good hands." And with that, the Dragon of the West disappeared into the night.

* * *

Hrm. I did a romance. Kind of. Not sure that I did it that well, but maybe you guys'll like it. This one just went completely out of control. Oh well. I hope you enjoy it. If you want, you can consider it a sequel to my other oneshot, but the two don't really have anything much to do with one another.

The idea of Zuko being Toph's "ostrich horse" is completely stolen from Fandomme. Go read any of her fiction. Its all awesome.

update: I figured out how to put in breaks! yay!


End file.
